YouTube Artist Matt Horne Hopes To Become Best Cover Of Lorde’s ‘Royals’ [VIDEOS]

Lorde has got a competition with a fellow Kiwi, who’s making waves online for his soulful rendition of “Royals.” Matt Horne has been covering hit songs on his YouTube page, but it’s his cover of Lorde’s chart-topper that has got him noticed by “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest’s team.

With the help of his friend Christian Tjandrawinata, the 22-year-old Christchurch native and now Wellington resident posted his video on YouTube in September when Seacrest’s team asked him to participate in the U.S. TV host’s contest for best “Royals” cover.

“I thought it was a hoax,” Horne told Stuff.co.nz of receiving a message from Seacrest’s group on Facebook. “One of my friends playing a trick on me, maybe, but then I looked into it and it’s the real deal – it’s pretty amazing.”

There are hundreds of other cover versions of “Royals” on YouTube, but the people working for Seacrest only chose 20 finalists from all over the world, perhaps sort of the best of the best online.

He is one of the two acts from New Zealand competing for the title of Best Cover of their fellow Kiwi Lorde’s biggest hit to date.

“I think it’d be really cool if not only the original came from here, but also if the best cover of it on YouTube did, too,” Horne continued, adding that many of his competitions came from the U.S.

“There’s people in there who have got hundreds of thousands of subscribers [on their YouTube channel], and I’ve got about 230.”

Actually, that number has gone up to over 370 as of the time of writing.

He is currently in second place below Joelle & Therese Hadjia from Sydney, Australia. The other New Zealand entry from Abbie Salvador and Emily Hazell is at 13th place.

People are encouraged to vote daily for their favourite cover through Seacrest’s page.

Meanwhile, Lorde, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, has just conquered the UK charts with “Royals.” Her debut single beat James Arthur to the top of Britain’s singles charts on Sunday, according to the Official Charts Company.

Listen to Horne’s cover:

Listen to the original: